Buffalo needs some young players to step up at receiver
The Buffalo Bills need production from their receiver group. On a team where “everybody eats,” they don’t have a true game-changer who can take over a game and wreck whatever coverage a defense throws at them.
That isn’t necessarily a problem, and it’s not to say that some of Buffalo’s better receivers can’t develop into that kind of player. It’s merely an observation based on how the group performed last season.
With that in mind, the team has continued to add players with diverse skill sets to the 90-man roster. They don’t have a Stefon Diggs-type who can be the “alpha,” but they have a lot of players who can fill roles within offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s offense.
In today’s installment of our “90 players in 90 days” series, we discuss an undrafted rookie looking to make a name for himself this summer.
Name: Kelly Akharaiyi
Number: 87
Position: WR
Height/Weight: 6’1”, 200 pounds
Age: 25 (26 on 2/2/2026)
Experience/Draft: R; signed with Bills following the 2025 NFL Draft
College: Mississippi State
Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Akhariyai signed a three-year deal worth $2.985 million overall. For the 2025 season, he carries a cap hit of $846,666 for the season if he makes the 53-man roster. Buffalo can release him and carry just a $20,000 dead-cap charge, a number which represents the entire amount of his signing bonus.
2024 Recap: Akhariyai transferred to Mississippi State for his senior year after a big season at UTEP. In 2023, he caught 48 passes for 1,033 yards and seven touchdowns, leading Conference USA in yards per reception at 21,5 yards per catch.
With the Bulldogs in 2024, he didn’t match that production, as he caught 25 passes for 291 yards and two scores in his 11 games. He made the Academic Honor Roll, was on the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl Watchlist, and accepted an invite to the Hula Bowl.
While he wasn’t invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, Akharaiyi did participate in Mississippi State’s Pro Day. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds, bench-pressed 225 pounds a total of 13 times, and leapt 40” in the vertical jump and 10’3” in the broad jump. His 20-yard shuttle time was 4.31 seconds, and his three-cone drill time was 7.15 seconds.
Positional outlook: Akharaiyi is one of 13 wideouts on the current roster. Curtis Samuel, Laviska Shenault Jr., Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Kristian Wilkerson, Jalen Virgil, K.J. Hamler, Joshua Palmer, Elijah Moore, Stephen Gosnell, and Tyrell Shavers are the others.
2025 Offseason: Akharaiyi is healthy and participating in offseason work to date.
2025 Season outlook: Akhariyi is a classic “tweener” as a wideout. He wins contested catches based on his strength, but he lacks agility and quickness that will likely be necessary at his size to win consistently at the professional level.
Perhaps he plays faster than his testing times, but he’ll need to show that he can win on precise route running in order too have a chance at even the practice squad. Akharaiyi is as long a shot as there is on the current roster, but a good preseason could help him make the practice squad.